Fall Makes Me Happy

OK, fall does not make me all that happy when it's 85 degrees at the beginning of October, but a) according the weather people, it's supposed to actually cool off to appropriate temperatures after tomorrow, and b) I can still put out some of my fall decorations, which make me smile. And let's face it, in this s**tshow of a world, we gotta take the smiles where and when we can!

I've been busy knitting, and have finished a pair of socks that I'll share with you once the recipient has received them. Not that he reads this, but someone who knows him may and I want them to be a surprise. I'm going along well on the cardigan I started, but don't have any recent photos, so you'll have to wait a little bit longer to see what one.

But remember the little acorn I knit a few weeks ago? Well, now he has a leafy friend!

I have to tell you, this little leaf is so fun and so quick to knit - I may end of with LOTS of leaves! This is another part to the garland I have started, and I'm so pleased with how it turned out. 

Aren't they cute together??? I'm not making any hurried effort on this, because it's kind of a when-I-feel-like-it project, and fall comes every year.

In keeping with the fall theme, and leading up to Halloween, The Tim bought this Halloween throw for us at one of the Aldi stores nearby. Not bad for $5.00, right?

And on our way to Rehoboth Beach, The Tim wanted to stop at the outlets because he wanted to look for something specific. I bought one of these black cat pillows at one of the stores there. I also got one for Amanda.

This is sitting on the couch in our living room, and let me tell you, it's been quite shocking! So far, only The Tim and I will still sit on the couch. 🙄

Meanwhile, Amanda says their kitty has claimed theirs for herself. Go figure.

That's all the news for now. I hope you are all doing well and knitting, reading, cooking, baking, whatever makes you happy at the moment. I'm off to start dinner (I'm writing this late on Monday afternoon), and it's a good thing because I'm starting to get hungry and sadly, dinner has yet to cook itself ...

Vacation, parts 3 and 4 and Then That's It

Happy October 1! I love October, and today we are having some nice cool weather, so I am a happy camper. 

Thanks to all of you who have gone through these last few posts with me, all about our vacation week. I know sometimes you're just not in the mood to see other people's photos ad nauseum, so thanks for your kind comments.  Today I'm sharing our last vacation day in the Poconos, and then the weekend after in Rehoboth Beach, Delaware, with my niece Amanda and her husband Pat.

Since we had been able to visit Promised Land State Park on Monday, we realized that we could make a differen trip on Tuesday after we checked out of the place where we were staying and go to the Hawk Mountain Sanctuary. Originally, given what else we wanted to do, it would have been out of the way and maybe pushing it as far as our energy levels. But when it turned out that it could be the only Tuesday activity, we decided we needed go to for sure!

Hawk Mountain Sanctuary was the world's first sanctuary for birds of prey. It became an official sanctuary in 1938. It's a perfect place to see all kinds of raptors and also take an amazing hike along one of the trails leading to astonishing views. We (of course) took the easiest trail, since we'd never had a chance to visit before, and weren't sure what to expect.

So onward we marched. First we headed to the South Lookout:

They have biologists stationed at the lookouts to count birds and on an average day, they can easily count up to 1000 birds of prey! When we arrived, around 10:30 a.m., there had already been 400+ sightings.

The trails were challenging, since they were not always smooth ones. This was definitely not a trip for the faint of heart. 

I really liked this rock/small boulder along the trail - you can't see it here, but the colors in it were a beautiful gradient.

This is a staircase of rocks up the mountain to the North Lookout - and it's worth mentioning that not only do you walk UP these stairs ... but you have to walk back DOWN them afterwards!

However, it is worth the effort, because:

We even found a friend!

While we were there, we saw several hawks, two turkey vultures, and two bald eagles! There were also other birds that were pointed out, but you needed binoculars to see them, and we didn't have a pair. But the whole experience was truly magnificent. I highly recommend a visit to Hawk Mountain Sanctuary!  We'll definitely go back again sometime (with our binoculars!).

So after that, it was home to the kitties. They were very glad to see us and of course had several tales of horrible neglect and starvation from the cat sitter, in spite of many photos she sent to us that showed the contrary ...

We were home for Wednesday and Thursday, and then on Friday morning, headed to one of our most fave places, Rehoboth Beach, Delaware. When we went last year with Amanda and Pat, Amanda found this really nice, really reasonable place only a few blocks from the ocean, and easily walkable to restaurants and shops. We loved it, so we stayed there again. Here is the view from our room - right down the street, you can see the ocean. 😊

Amanda and I had The Tim take a photo of us to send to our friend Lisa. Amanda calls this her "thank God I have a weekend away from my govt job during this horrible administration!" look.

Saturday morning, we went to breakfast at this Victorian hotel restaurant along the boardwalk. They have birds in the parlor, and we had a lovely chat with these two.

This is Moose.

This is Emro.

Both had a lot to tell us, and were happy to sit on our shoulders. They are really characters!

Sunday, we all had breakfast and headed to our respective homes and kitties, after a really fun weekend that was relaxing and the perfect way to end the summer and our week of mini-vacations. 

Rehoboth Beach, early, on the very last full day of summer.

Vacation, Part 2

After our day in Jim Thorpe, PA, we headed further north to the Pocono Mountains. Neither of us had been there before, and the drive up was so gorgeous! Not just working our way up mountains, but the leaves were beginning to change color, so we saw stunning vistas along the way.

We made our way to a new place that we heard about on Instagram (!), called The Rex. It used to be a motor lodge and was recently redone to become cabins backing right up to Promised Land State Park. The prices were extremely reasonable, considering what it included, so we decided we would give it a go. 

We had our own fire pit in the back:

And it was completely outfitted with everything you need - you could easily buy food and drink and bring it along with you, and never have to leave the grounds at all. This was the kitchen:

We were very happy there for our visit. It was comfortable, cozy, and in the middle of such a beautiful area that you looked out the window to nature no matter where you were. We would definitely stay there again!

We did get a notice about a young black bear in the area, but alas, we did not spot said bear. But there were very strict guidelines related to storage of food and warnings about leaving anything at all that was edible in your car!

The next day, we headed to the Delaware Water Gap Recreational Area and to Raymondskill Falls, the highest waterfall in Pennsylvania. We hiked around, being amazed by our surroundings, and the waterfall itself did not in any way disappoint.  

We took this selfie after approximately 400 tries - The Tim took over the camera, and he added some kind of filter, and well, let's just say we should not be allowed near technology. But we finally figured it out, and ended up with a decent photo. 

The whole place was so incredibly beautiful that we were there for about two hours, walking the trails and seeing everything. 

White asters everywhere.

LOTS of goldenrod everywhere we went!

We had planned to go to Dingman Falls, but it was closed due to some kind of repairs and maintenance, so we headed to Bushkill Falls. When we got there, we realized that it was privately owned, and though the grounds looked lovely, it was a steeper cost than we wanted to pay to walk the trails. 

So we pivoted on some plans, and instead of going to explore Promised Land State Park the next day after checking out of our lodgings, we decided to finish off Monday by going there. As I mentioned, part of it backed right up to where our cabin was, but we went to the "official" entrance and let me tell you, it was well worth any effort to go there!

After exploring one part of the park, we decided to visit and walk around Conservation Island, where there are all kinds of campsites. For the first time since arriving in the Poconos, we saw more than just a few people (though still not many). Like everywhere else we'd been on Monday, it was stunning. 

We didn't even get close to seeing most of the park, but it was just all amazing. We ended up having one of the best days and again, we were lucky because the universe blessed us with weather that can only be described as perfection.

Our little cabin looked better than ever when we got back there after a long and busy day of activity. We had some leftovers from our dinner the night before, so we decided to just zap them in the microwave and settle in to our cozy spot.

We enjoyed our explorations, and loved our place, but we did agree that we were not really people who would enjoy living in a place that was remote or isolating. Neither of us really want to be somewhere that requires us to drive just to get to a market or a drugstore, etc. Even The Tim, who more or less drives as part of his job, and likes to drive, prefers not to if possible. So it's unlikely we will be moving to any of towns in the Poconos. 😊 

Since we had changed around our plan that was originally for Tuesday, we had to come up with a new one. It wasn't hard, and I'll share that with you the next time around. So Part 3 of Bridget and The Tim Do Nature will be coming soon!

Hooray for the First Day of Fall! And, Vacation Photos, part 1

Happy First Day of Fall! I've been waiting for this - not because it's a guarantee that fall weather will be the only weather we experience for the next few months, but because it means that the really hot and humid days are either gone, or will become less and less frequent. And the cool, crisp days will be taking their place. Which is very very good in my book.

For those of you in places that will now be enjoying spring, I hope it makes you happy to be changing seasons. 😊

Last week was our week of mini-vacations, and we enjoyed every single minute. We were lucky to have great weather the whole time we were away - the only cloudy or rainy days were the couple of ones that we were at home, and that was fine with us - we just hung out and cozied up! But our travels went without a hitch, and we just had the best time.

Today I'll share photos from our trip to Jim Thorpe, Pennsylvania. We had a great time, walking around the little town, and along the Lehigh River. In a smart move - that in our case was just dumb luck - we were there pretty early in the day. So we had most places and most of the street just walking along to ourselves. Just about the time we were getting ready to leave, it started to get really really busy.

So here are some photos for you (you may have already seen these if you follow me in Instagram, so feel free to skip this part).

I love Victorian buildings, and there were quite a few! I'm especially a sucker for a round tower.

This is an old Presbyterian Church.

 

This is the local jail, where several member of the Molly Maguires were held and later executed. 

K

The Tim found a yarn store for me to check out! It was small but had some nice yarns, and the owner, whose name I am 99% was Diane, was so friendly and chatty. I didn't buy anything, but I really enjoyed my visit.

This was a whole little shop devoted to jerky - not something you see in most towns ...

There was a super cool old sightseeing train, but it was mostly full when we arrived, and so we skipped it, since we were on our way to the Poconos after this, and had a bit of a trip.

Before the town was named Jim Thorpe, it was called Mauch Chunk. I don't think I'd really want to live somewhere with "chunk" in the name, but maybe that's just me ...

Our plans for coal picking were ruined when we saw this - I mean, how are you supposed to start a vacation without coal picking???? 😉 We managed to get over it  ...

The Lehigh River was so pretty and the walk along it so peaceful.

This is Karma (adult dog) and Mochi (puppy). Their owners were trying to teach Mochi to walk with the harness, and wanting him to use Karma as inspiration. We saw them several times, going up and down the street past the shops, and then saw them again right before we left.  Apparently they all made some progress, but everyone was exhausted!

Both of them were extremely sweet.

We had a good morning into afternoon walking around sightseeing, and stopped for a cup of tea and a donut along the way. We left Jim Thorpe thinking we would definitely like to return sometime, and see a few things we decided to skip once it started to get busy. 

Besides, we had a cabin in the Pocono Mountains to check into! I'll show you that and the places we explored in Part 2 on another day.

I hope all of you have a good week, and that this new season will be good to you.

A Horse Tale

Hi all! I hope this week is treating you well. It's been very nice here in Philadelphia, and I am enjoying every minute of sunny days and cool nights and mornings.

Yes, the above image is Mr. Ed, the talking horse. As you may or may not know, Mr. Ed is one of my favorite TV shows *ever.* When I was a kid, I dreamed of having a horse - any kind of horse, really. But if it turned out to be a horse like Mr. Ed, that would have just been a bonus. And Mr. Ed is the reason that I have a lifelong love for horses. Just seeing one makes me happy. If I get to pet one, kiss its nose, or ride one, then it's all exponentially better.

OK, that was some background. Now the reason I'm telling you about this. A month or more ago, when I abandoned my Relax Tee, I said that if anyone was interested in the lovely linen yarn that I was using, I would be happy to send it along. A woman named Barbara who lives in Texas, and obviously reads the blog, sent me an e-mail and said she would love to have it. In the course of our e-mails back and forth, she mentioned that she had horses. REAL LIVE HORSES that she can see every day, whenever she wants to! In any case, I finally got my act together and sent the yarn, and she sent me a very lovely thank you package, which I'll take about in another post. But when I read the note enclosed with it, I was reminded of this story, which I don't think I've ever told you before, so here goes. If you are only interested in knitting or book content, you can skip this post.

*****

Years ago, when we first moved to Philadelphia, we lived in a neighborhood where about half a mile from our apartment were the City Stables. It was near a little market we used to visit, so when we could we would go and see the horses afterwards. Well, it turned out that they offered riding lessons for adults, but they were so popular, it was by lottery. I took riding lessons as a child, as part of a club at a school I attended in some place where we were living at the time, but hadn't really ridden a horse for years. The Tim had never ridden a horse, so we put our names into the lottery, and we were chosen!

They did the lessons in groups of six people. Our group was 5 women and The Tim. One of the women, whose name was Dottie, said at the beginning that she signed up for lessons because "she was hoping to meet a man." Good luck with that, right?

So after our first lesson, which involved showing us how to put the tack on the horse, get onto the saddle, and then guide the horse around the ring, we were back at the stables, putting things away, grooming our horse, etc. My horse was a sweet boy named Durango. I was the last one out of the lesson, so The Tim was nearby waiting for me to finish. Dottie went over to him and started chatting. Now, you should know that The Tim is a very polite and often charming person in public, and will talk to anyone, but isn't really stellar in the listening department unless he knows he has to be. So he and Dottie are chatting, and I heard her say, "What's your name?" And frankly, I suspected he wasn't paying attention, and that was confirmed when he responded, "Durango." I immediately started to laugh so hard I cried while I was finishing up with the *real* Durango, and Dottie replied, "Oh that's so weird, just like the horse!" Frankly, I was laughing so hard, I have no idea how he got himself out of the conversation. 

Going home, he said, "You know, I wasn't really paying close attention, so I thought she asked me if I knew the horse's name." (No sh*t, Sherlock.) 

Well, this story has become a legend in our family. One of my nieces said the only way it could have been better would have been if the horse's name had been Powder Puff or something like that.

The next 5 weeks of lessons were wonderful, but nothing as memorable as the first night, when we learned that one of the people in our group had the same name as one of the horses at the stable. 😉

Barbara - thanks for the gift, and for bringing this memory into my brain. I hope you enjoy your yarn at least as much as I enjoyed this story, and thinking about it again.

*****

Happy Trails, y'all.